Wrapup 10:15 PM
The Flyers were fortunate to come away with two points tonight in a game where they did not play particularly well for much of the night. The Islanders came at the Flyers with a lot of pressure, and the Flyers did not win most of the puck possession battles.
If not for Martin Biron's stellar play in goal, it may well have been a loss in regulation before Jeff Carter could score his second of the game to seal the win on OT. Even Carter's OT winner came on a play where the Islanders should have gotten the puck out of the zone and it was fortunate the puck got to Carter.
After the game, John Stevens wasn't pulling any punches. "The Islanders play a real press-up game and make you make strong plays on the wall and we didn't do it, quite frankly. The board battles were heavily won in their favor. ...You've got to be willing to take pucks off the wall and move your feet, and we were standing still."
Few of the players in the locker room were very happy with the effort tonight, either.
"We know we need to tighten things up by Sunday when we play Edmonton," Jeff Carter said.
Notes:
* Carter had a game-high six shots, leading both teams.
* Stevens said of Carter's great start this season, "Jeff came to camp in great shape, and he's matured into a good pro. He's bigger and faster, and I consider him a good two-way player. He's not ready to compete for a Selke Trophy but he can go up against another team's top scoring line and get the job done."
* Final faceoff stats were 38-35 in favor of the Islanders.
* The Flyers' fathers took photos with their sons after the game.
Overtime Synopsis: Flyers 3 - Islanders 2
Isles' powerplay works the puck around the perimeter, finally getting a Bill Guerin slapper on net at 0:52. Biron gets it and prevents any second-chance opportunities. Mike Richards with a diving clear at 1:30. At the end of the powerplay, Biron makes another save on a tough chance.
Nielsen gets a horrible offensive zone holding penalty at 3:44 to give the Flyers a 4-on-3 powerplay for the remainder of OT. Flyers take their timeout.
Jeff Carter gets his second OT game winner and second of the game, roofing a shot short-side from the left circle at 4:37. Assists went to Richards and Gagne.
Third Period Synopsis: Flyers 2 - Islanders 2
The Flyers revert to their inability to close out games they're leading after two periods. The Islanders outworked the Flyers as they did for much of the middle 20 minutes as well.
The Flyers kill off the remaining Islanders' powerplay with little trouble.
Hartnell narrowly misses a scoring chance at 1:22. Chris Campoli gets a teammate's stick in the face on the play. He gets up slowly but seems OK.
Biron with a nice glove stop on Richard Park at 2:23.
Downie is sent out for his first shift since the defensive gaffe, but it lasts only about five seconds. The Flyers change to the Richards line because the next draw is in the defensive zone. Asham has been playing shifts on the Carter line.
Flyers make one pass too many on a 3-on-2 rush. Hartnell makes a nice little bank pass off the boards to send Richards into the zone past the D, but Richards' pass to Lupul bounces over the winger's stick at about 7:00.
Fourth line gets a full-length shift (Hartnell double-shifted in Cote's stead, but Downie and Asham were out). Downie with a failed clear near the end for his second giveaway in 5:56 of ice time.
Biron robs Frans Nielsen at point-blank range at 11:03 to protect the 2-1 lead.
Downie plays a RW shift with Richards and Hartnell. 7:30 left in the game, shots are 29-25 Islanders.
Islanders tie it 2-2 at 12:40. A side-angle shot by Hilbert hits Vaananen and goes into the net. Mike Comrie and Andy Sutton with the assists. This "unlucky" goal is another example of what happens when one team gets outworked for too long. The Isles have been flirting with tying the game for much of the last 20 minutes of play.
Quiet night for Simon Gagne. He just rushed up ice with Knuble, and I realized that I've hardly noticed Simon at all during the game.
Islanders keep the Flyers hemmed in again with about three minutes left in regulation.
Upshall-Carter-Nodl with the Flyers' best forechecking pressure of the period as play nears the final minute of regulation.
Broken pain of glass inside the Flyers blueline. Stoppage at 19:45.
Timonen gets a stick holding penalty at the end of regulation, setting up a 4-on-3 Islanders powerplay in the first two minutes of OT.
Shots were 11 for the Islanders (34 through regulation) and eight for the Flyers (27 through regulation). Faceoffs were 13-12 Flyers (Flyers ahead 35-32 through regulation).
Second Period Synopsis: Flyers 2 - Islanders 1
The Flyers' coaches won't be happy with the team's play in the second half of the period. New York started to outwork them and had the better of the play. The Flyers lost too many board battles and they had trouble getting the puck out of the zone.
The first 2:30 of the middle stanza has been calmer than the opening flurry of action at the start of the game.
Once again, good things happen off a Flyers' faceoff win. Mitch Fritz (say that five times fast) takes a holding penalty on Steve Eminger at 3:32. Scrum in front of Islanders net at 4:03 with Andy Sutton and Scott Hartnell takin each other off the ice again on coincidentals- roughing on Sutton, cross-check on Hartnell. No manpower change. Eminger (who is having his best game of the season so far) snaps a tough shot on goal at 4:26. Later, he pinched into the slot but the puck eluded his stick.
Steve Downie tries to stickhandle over the middle in the defensive zone and gets taken off the puck. We'll see how John Stevens handles it. Usually such situations result in Downie getting yanked from regular shifts. This one wasn't costly, however.
Biron erases a gaffe by Alberts at 10:08. Just the third shot of the period by the Isles.
Trent Hunter mixes it up on the offensive zone boards and gets the only roughing penalty at 10:50. He and Mike Richards do a little trash-talking as Hunter skates to the box. On the advantage, Eminger gets another scoring chance coming in from the point. Later, good point-to-point puck movement between Luca Sbisa and Braydon Coburn leads to a quick snap-shot on net by Coburn. MacDonald makes the stop.
Islanders control behind the net and flurry in close to Biron at about 16:00 to 16:10, but can't get the equalizer. New York with another extended shift in the Philadelphia end two shifts later. The Flyers need to get re-focused. Their play has been deteriorating over the second half of this period, and the Islanders aren't going away.
Asham off for holding Bergenheim (who is having a real solid game for the Islanders) at 18:53. Isles get one side-angle shot but nothing dangerous. There will be a carryover 1:07 of powerplay time for New York in the third period.
Shots ended up 13 for Islanders (23 through two periods) and eight for the Flyers (19 through two periods). Islanders won 14 of 21 faceoffs in the period (Flyers still lead 23-20).
First Period Synopsis: Flyers 2 - Islanders 1
The Islanders skated with a lot more energy than Atlanta through at the Flyers the other night, but the Flyers stuck with the same approach that has brought them success in their last three games.
Mike Richards skates right on in after the opening faceoff for a scoring chance. About a minute later, Richards wins a draw back cleanly to Sbisa for quick shot on goal.
Martin Biron gets his first tester of the game from an open Sean Bergeheim at 3:05.
Asham hustles to beat out an icing at 6:55, but the Flyers are unable to follow up with a scoring chance.
Make it five goals in four games for the red-hot Mike Knuble. The Flyers win a faceoff and Simon Gagne rotates the puck out to Steve Eminger at the point. The puck is passed to Knuble, who fires home a shot from the high slot at 7:45 to make it a 1-0 lead.
Coincidental minors to Andy Sutton (roughing) and Scott Hartnell (goaltender interference) on a play where Hartnell was steered into the crease. Four-on-four hockey at 9:07. Isles get a 4-on-3 powerplay at 9:27 on an offensive zone hooking penalty by Scottie Upshall.
The Islanders cash in on the 4-on-3 at 10:17. Mark Streit goes point-to-point to Bill Guerin, who unleases a slapshot that beats Biron. Doug Weight gets the secondary assist.
During a TV timeout at 11:08, they showed Phillies World Series highlights to a huge standing ovation.
At 11:14, off the next faceoff, ex-Flyer Jon Sim goes off for tripping. Not much doing on the powerplay.
Jeff Carter camps out in front of the Islanders' net and is rewarded with his 7th goal of the season, deflecting home an Ossi Vaananen point shot to make it a 2-1 lead at 15:29. Luca Sbisa gets the secondary assist.
Martin Biron makes a good pad stop on Trent Hunter at 17:20 after Hunter moved around a Kimmo Timonen stick check attempt.
Andrew Alberts blocks a Kyle Okposo shot attempt cold at 18:02. Nice defensive play. The puck went right out of the zone.
Good defensive support by Knuble in the last minute to prevent a dangerous play on a sequence that started with a Kimmo Timonen turnover.
Shots in the first period were 11 for the Flyers, 10 for the Islanders. The Flyers had their best faceoff period of the season so far, winning 12 of 18 draws (67%).
Update (6:00 PM EDT)
The Flyers have acquired enforcer
Josh Gratton from the Nashville Predators organization in exchange for Phantoms defenseman
Tim Ramholt.
By Scoop Cooper's calculations, Gratton is the 58th former Flyer in club history to later return to the organization.
Preview (11:30 AM EDT)
On the eve of the Phillies championship parade, the Flyers (3-3-3) will look to keep the party going in South Philly when they take on the New York Islanders (2-6-0) at the Wachovia Center tonight. With a victory tonight, the Flyers stand to survive a brutally tough October schedule and emerge with a winning record.
On Tuesday, the Flyers methodically took care of business against an Atlanta Thrashers team that didn't compete as the game progressed. The Islanders are another team the Flyers dominated last year, winning seven of the eight meetings (the only loss came during Philly's swoon after the All-Star break).
The Flyers have started to gel over the last two-plus games. There's still room to tighten things up defensively, but there has been improved defensive support and much better work in getting the puck out of the zone cleanly. Faceoffs still need to improve, however. It's not just the centers' responsibility to win draws.
Some of the new players in the lineup seem to be settling in. In the absence of
Daniel Briere (
sports hernia),
Glen Metropolit has showed why he's such a valuable role player to have on the team. He's a guy who can fill in on a scoring line for short stretches and then rotate back to the checking lines when he gets healthy.
At the same time, streaky offensive players like
Joffrey Lupul (
5 G, 6 Pts in his last four games) and
Mike Knuble (
4 G, 5 PTS in his last three games) have gotten hot at just the right time.
Mike Richards (
team-leading 12 points, points in six of nine games) and
Simon Gagne (
two goals and two assists in Atlanta, team-high seven goals on the season) have been strong for the team on virtually an every-game basis, while
Jeff Carter (
six goals, nine points) has been coming through in clutch situations. Scott Hartnell has been setting a positive tone from the get-go, even when the club wasn't winning at the start of the season.
The Islanders have been banged up on defense so far this year, and have struggled to prevent scoring chances.
Andy Sutton (
hand) is expected back in the lineup tonight, to be paired with
Mark Streit.
As for the much maligned blueline, it's still clearly a work in progress beyond the top pairing of
Kimmo Timonen and
Braydon Coburn. The second unit of
Ossi Väänänen and 18-year-old
Luca Sbisahas done well, but really aren't the guy you want to have to give the 19-plus minutes that you need from the second pair. The third pairing of
Steve Eminger and
Andrew Alberts has looked a little better in the last couple games, and that has been of the reasons why the club has looked a little more stable defensively.
The Flyers have already scored five shorthanded goals on the season, with two apiece by Gagne and Carter and one by Hartnell. Last year, they burned the Islanders several times with shorties. They have a chance to continue that tonight.
The Islanders' 28th-ranked powerplay so far this season has looked horrendous, despite the additions of Streit on the point and veteran playmaker
Doug Weight (
team high seven points, points in four his last five games). Those guys haven't been the problem. Weight and Streit have combined to score four of the five powerplay goals the Islanders have scored so far.
Trent Hunter, who leads the club with four goals overall, has the other powerplay goal.
Martin Biron beat the Islanders six times last season, and is coming off his best game of the season in his last outing against the Devils. Despite
Antero Niittymäki's shutout in Atlanta, look for Biron to be in goal.
Joey MacDonald will start in goal in the absence of
Rick DiPietro (
knee injury). The Islanders have been mum about what's really going on with the all-star keeper, but there's reason for the club to be concerned about his tendency to get injured.
The Flyers have called up
Steve Downie to center the fourth line tonight after Darroll Powe suffered a concussion in the Atlanta game. Downie was in action for the Phantoms last night in Norfolk.
FLYERS LINES AND SCRATCHES
Gagne - Metropolit - Knuble
Hartnell - Richards - Lupul
Upshall - Carter - Nödl
Cote - Downie - Asham
Coburn - Timonen
Sbisa - Väänänen
Alberts - Eminger
Biron
[Niittymäki]
Scratches: Kukkonen (healthy), Powe (concussion), Briere (hernia), Jones (IR, hip), Parent (IR, shoulder), Hatcher (LTIR, knee)
****
Jared Ross scored with 15 seconds left in overtime to lift the Phantoms to a 5-4
road win
over the Norfolk Admirals last night.
Steve Downie set up the OT winner, while
Claude Giroux doubled his season point total with a goal and an assist.
Jonathan Matsumoto,
Rob Bellamy and
Jon Kalinski also scored for the Phantoms. In goal,
Scott Munroe stopped 31 of 35 shots.
****
Please forgive my off-topic rambling here: Here is my stream-of-consciousness and straight from the heart take on the Phillies winning the World Series.
I shed tears of joy last night when Brad Lidge recorded the final strikeout to clinch the Phillies first World Championship since 1980 and the first Philadelphia championship in any major league sport since 1983. The Phantoms' two Calder Cups were special to me, too, but nothing compares to a major league championship.
When I was a kid, hockey and baseball were my two obsessions. I can't even tell you which sport I enjoyed more, although hockey became my favorite as an adult. I loved basketball and football at different times, too, but baseball and hockey were the constants.
The last time I cried about the outcome of a sporting event was when the Flyers lost Game 7 of the 1987 Stanley Cup Finals against Edmonton. Part of it was disappointment, but I was also just so proud -- privileged, actually -- to be a fan of those Flyers teams of that era. If ever a team deserved a title and didn't get it, it was that group of players.
As a little kid, I cried quiet a few times at sports results. I cried after Black Friday and the elimination game (in a pouring rain much like Monday) when the Phillies lost to the Dodgers in 1977.
I cried when Garry Maddox dropped a fly ball in Game 4 and the Phils went down to defeat to LA again the next year.
I cried bitterly after Game 6 of the 1980 Stanley Cup Finals when Bobby Nystrom scored in overtime of the "Leon Stickle Game".
I cried a couple times when I made the final out of games my Somerton Spartans little league baseball team lost when I was a kid. I cried when we lost in the playoffs (I was on deck when the final out was recorded) the day after we got rained out shortly after scoring six runs in the top of the first inning. We had to re-start the game from scratch the next day, and lost 5-4.
I cried in November of 1985 when Pelle Lindbergh died and after the Flyers beat the Oilers on the night of his memorial ceremony.
Five years earlier, I cried for joy when the Phillies won the 1980 National League pennant and World Series.
But in the last 21 years, I had not cried about the result of any sporting event, win or lose. I may have been upset or angry or happy about the outcome, but never enough to cry. Last night, the tears surprised me.
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